Reversible placard holder for tank cars



March 11, 1930. s, LBJOINER REVERSIBLE PLACARD HOLDER FOR TANK CARSFiled Sept. 8, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I IM ' gwumtoz ,SIL. Jazfizei,"

March 11, 1930. s. L. JOINER REVERSIBLE PLAARD HOLDER FOR TANK CARSFiled Sept. 8, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 |NFLAMr1Ap E I gwwmtoa JZ. (fad/w);

Patented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED STATE-S PATENT OFFICE SYLVESTER L. JOINER,F MCGREGOR, TEXAS Application filed September This invention relates toa placard holder for tank cars.

It is common practiceto use placards on tank cars to display twosignals, one to indicate that the tank car is transporting inflammablematerial and the other signal to indicate that the tank car used fortransporting inflammable materials is empty. There are times when thetank cars generally used for transportation of inflammable liquids areused for transporting other lading, such as erosive and othercommodities of non-inflammable nature.

At the present time thetwo signal reversible placard has not beenaltogether a satisfactory practice or effective when the tank car isused to transport a non-inflammable commodity. This is due to the factthat inspectors and others. upon making the discovery that the tank caris being used to transport non-inflammable materials, and the placardindicating the transportation of inflammable materials and nothavingbeen removed from the holder, the inspector has of his ownvolition removed the placard from its holder to prevent misleadinginterpretation and has put the placard aside, thereby contenting himselfwith merely overcoming the display of the misleading signal whennon-inflammable materials are being transported. Under suchcircumstances the inspectors often remove the placard entirely from thetank cars and this has put the owners of the cars to considerableexpense to trace the placards, and considerable difliculty has beennecessary orexperienced in efforts to locate or replace the placards.

It is a comparatively easy matter to misplace or lose the placard whenthe inspector or other person removes the same from the holder becauseof the misleading signal or indication.

It is therefore an object of my present invention to provide a placardholder constructed to provide'for the display of at least 8, 1928.Serial No. 304,666.

three signals to indicate that the car is being used for transportinginflammable materials, or is empty, or that the car generally used forthe transportation of inflammable material is transportingnon-inflammable material, so that the signals will properly enlighten aninspector or others without danger of loss of the placard.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a placardholder among other characteristics, means whereby, when the tank car isconverted for use to carry a non-inflammable commodity, the placard maybe supported and carried by the placard holder without giving anerroneous indication or signal, and whereby there is no inconvenienceplaced upon owners of the cars in useless or needless efforts inattempts to, trace a missing placard.

It is still further designed to provide a device of the characterstated, embodying among other characteristics, means whereby to supporta placard in different positions to give three separate and distinctindications and which is readily accessible for positioning the same andWithout danger of accidental dislodgment of the placard and withoutpossibility of an obstruction being placed along the running board ofthe car.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointedout in the claims hereto appended. it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion and minor details of construction,within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the invention illustrating signal indicia ofone car and illustrating the placard locked and sealed.

embodying holder. 1

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the locking device forpreventing dislodgment of the placard when in the holder and unsealed inthe holder.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the key 28 illustrating the sealingstrip associated therewith when it is desired to maintain the placardsealed in the holder against surrep- I titious removal by unauthorizedpersons.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings thereference character7 indicates the running board of a tank car uponwhich my improved placard holder is supported. I

A bracketinc-luding a foot 8 and an upright 9 is supported on therunning board, the foot 9 being preferably bolted or otherwise securedto the underside of the running board 7 and the upright preferablyextending upwardly adjacent the outer edge of the running board. Thefoot of the bracket and the support rising therefrom are preferablycomposed of strong metal or other suitable material.

The placard holder is indicated generally by the reference character Aand consists preferably of sheet metal which may or may not be enameledor whichmay consist of .porcelain or any other suitable material,

preferably sheet material; capable of being bent upon itself in a mannerto form a substantial web 10 along one inclined edge and providesubstantially rectangular shaped spaced front and rear leaves 11 and 12respectively. The upright 9 of the aforesaid bracket extends upwardlybetween the leaves and is secured therebetween in any suitable manner,the same being preferably spot welded to the leaves to provide aneffective connection between the support and the leaves. The holder ispreferably supported on the upright from a corner of theholder and eachleaf has three of its edges folded back upon itself to form flanges 13,14 and 15 which are spaced from the body of the respective leaf toprovide guiding and supporting grooves for the placard.

These flanges of each leaf have their adja cent ends spaced toaccommodate respective corners of the substantially rectangular shapedplacard 16 and the space between the flanges 14 and 15 of each leafcreates a space to give. access to an opening 17 formed through bothleaves and through the upright 9 of the bracket A for a locking devicehereinafter described and to provide a passage to permit all drainage ofwater, snow, ice'or sleet from the holder.

On the outer face of the front leaf of the holder there is printed orotherwise disposed signaling indicia 18 which is. exposed tothe view ofan inspector or other persons when the placard 16 is disposed againstthe outer face ofthe rear leaf, thereby indicating that the car containsnon-inflammable liquids or other material. When the placard 16 isremoved from its position on the rear leaf of the holder and insertedbetween the guide and supporting flanges 13, 14 and 15of the front leafof the'holder the previously exposed signaling indicia on the front leafof the holder is concealed by the placard which latter then indicates toan inspector or others that the car contains either inflammable liquidsor material orthat the car is empty,

depending upon. which face of the placardis exposed toview' from thefront leaf. of the holder. Aswill be seen in the drawings one face ofthe placard carries signal indicia indicating that'the car carriesinflammable material as indicated at 19 while on the other face of theplacard there is signal indicia indic ating'that the car is empty asindicated by the signaling indicia 20. I

To maintain the placard in supported position with relation to "eitherleaf of the holder, without necessarily sealing the placard in theholderthere is provided a locking device consisting of a head 21 and ashank 22, the latter being slidably supported between the leaves in theaforesaid web 10,

which connects the leaves, and which shank is encircled by a helical orotherspring 23,

confined between the leaves. to normally maintain the head 21 of thelocking device in tight engagement with the web 10. The head 21 is bowedintermediate its ends as indicated at 24 and at which point the shank isconnected to the head, so that as thehead 21 is turned transversely ofthe web 10 the bowed portion of the head tightly engages the web withthe ends of the head overlying the leaves so that the respective end ofthe head will be engaged by the placard if there be accidental outwardmovement of the placard incident to a. jar or otherwise, and whereby thelocking device prevents flQCldGl'l'. tal dislodgment of the placard fromoperative relation or position with respect to the leaves of the holder.The spring 23 on the shank 22 has a tendency-to draw the head 21downwardly against the web whether the a head be disposed longitudinallyof the web or crosswise with relation thereto and it will be understoodthat when the head is disposed'l'ongitudinally .of the web 10 thatclearance is permitted to permit positioning or removal of the placardfrom either of its leaves of the holder the placard-is preferablyprovided with an extension in the form of a lug 25 and which may bereadily grasped by the fingers and thumb or otherwise-to facilitateespecially removal of the placard from the holder.

In order to positively effectually lock the slots 30 and 31 in the shank27 and the body of the key 28 and sealed in the usual or any suitablemanner to maintain the placard sealed in the holder either at the frontor the rear of the holder, against accidental or surreptitious removalby unauthorized persons. This sealed locking key 28 may be main tainedagainst accidental dislocation by means of a chain 32 connected in aneye 33 thereof and with a clevi s or other suitable clamp like member 34embracing the upright of the bracket A. The specific sealing means maybe varied according to will and of course for the chain and clevis orclamp like member other means may be employed to secure the sealing keymeans against accidental loss or displacement.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have embodied in asinglestructure a comparatively simple, inexpensive, durable and effectivedevice calculated to give three different signaling indiciacharacteristics whereby an inspector or others may be accuratelynotified or warned as to the contents of the tank car, that is to say,whether the tank car is empty or whether it is transporting inflammableor non-inflammable material. 7

It will also be seen that if a signaling indicia is to theeifect thatthe car contains inflammable material, that in order to indicate thatthe car carries non-inflammable material it is necessary simply toremove the placard from the front of the holder to the rear thereof whenthe signaling indicia on the front of the holder indicates thatnoninfla-mmable material is in the car and that to indicate that the caris empty it is simply necessary, if the inflammable indicia is indicatedon the front of the holder, to remove the placard and reverse it andreplace it again on the front leaf of the holder.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the character described, a bracket, a placard holdersupported on the bracket and including front and rear leaves connectedby a web portion, each leaf being substantially rectangular and havingflanges on three sides forming guides and a support for a placardagainst each leaf, the front leaf carrying signalling indicia, and aplacard carrying different signalling indicia on its opposite faces andadapted to be supported interchangeably on the leaves in the respectiveguides and supports and when supported on the front leaf concealing thesignalling indicia on the latter.

2. In a device of the character described, a bracket, a placard holdersupported on the bracket and including front and rear leaves connectedby a web portion, each leaf being :5

substantially rectangular and having flanges on three sides formingguides and a support for a placard against each leaf, the front leafcarrying signalling indicia, a placard carrying different signallingindicia on its opposite faces and adapted to be supportedinterchangeably on the leaves in the respec tive guides and supports andwhen supported on the front leaf concealing the signalling indicia onthe latter, and the placard against accidental from either placardholder.

3. In a device of the character described, a bracket, a placard holdersupported on the bracket and including front and rear leaves connectedby a web portion, each leaf being substantially, rectangular and havingflanges on three sides forming guides and a support for a placardagainst each leaf, the front leaf carrying signalling indicia, a placardcarrying different signalling indicia on its opposite faces and adaptedto be supported interchangeably on the leaves in the dislodgment Irespective guides and supports and when sup ported on the front leafconcealing the signalling indicia on the latter, means for holding theplacard against accidental dislodgment from either placard holder, andanother locking means to seal the placard against displacement orsurreptitious removal.

4. In a device of the character described, a bracket, a placard holdersupported on the bracket and including front and rear spaced leavesconnected by a web portion each leaf having supporting flanges for aplacard, the

front leaf carrying signalling indicia, a placard carrying differentsignalling indicia on its opposite faces and adapted to be supportedinterchangeably by the flanges on the leaves and when supported on thefront leaf means for holding a support for aplacard against each leaf,

7 the front leaf carrying permanent signalling indioia, a placardcarrying different signalling indicia on opposite faces and adapted tobe supportedinterchangeably on the leaves in the respective guides and'supportsand when supported on the front leaf concealing the signallingindicia on the latter, and an element operable through said Web portionand rotatable t0 releasably lock the placard .7

on either side of the holder;

In testlmony whereof I have my hand. a SYLVESTER L; JOINER.

hereunto set

